Multiflow filler nozzle for plastic comestibles



Feb. 28, 1956 R. F. ANDERSON MULTIFLOW FILLER NOZZLE FOR PLASTICCOMESTIBLES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 18, 1952 R. F. ANDERSON Feb.28. 1956 MULTIFLOW FILLER NOZZLE FOR PLASTIC COMESTIBLES 2 Sheets-Sheet2 Filed April 18, 1952 United States Patent MULTIFLOW FILLER NOZZLE FORPLASTIC COMESTI-BLES.

Ralph F. Anderson, Rockford, Ell.

Application April 18, 1952, Serial No. 282,981

15 Claims. (Cl. 226-100.).

This invention relates to a multi-fiow fil-ler nozzle for plasticcomestibles, such as ice cream.

It is an object of this invention to provide amulti-fiow filler nozzlefor plastic comestibles, such as ice cream and the like, which isconstructed in a novel manner facilitating its maintenance in a sanitarycondition.

Another object of this invention, is to, provide a multiflow fillernozzle for plastic comestibles which is of separable constructionfacilitating its ready disassembly for cleaning purposes.

A further object of this invention is to provide a filler nozzle ofnovel construction for simultaneously feeding comestible material fromthree separate sources in three separate flows through a single fillingspout to a common receptacle.

it is also an object of this invention to provide a filler nozzle ofnovel construction for simultaneously filling a single receptacle withdifferently flavored plastic comestible material with the flavorsextending lengthwise or crosswise in the receptacle, as desired.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a multipurpose fillernozzle adapted for selectively feeding one, two or three flavors of icecream from three sources to a common receptacle.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will beapparent from the following description of preferred embodimentsthereof, which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings toillustrate the principles of the invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front view, with parts broken away, of one form of thefiller nozzle assembly of the present invention mounted on a supportinghousing and having three separate ice cream sources disposed above it;

Figure 2 is an end view of the Fig. l nozzle assembly mounted on thesupporting housing;

Figure 3 is a top view of the Fig. 1 nozzle assembly removed-from thesupporting housing;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary section showing the mounting for the upper endof the filling spout in Fig. 1;

Figure 5 is a view similar to Fig. l but showing another form of fillernozzle assembly according to the present invention;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary side view, partly broken away, of one form ofthe discharge spout in the nozzle assembly of either Fig. 1 or Fig. 5; v

Figure 7 is a section along the line 77 in Fig. 6;

Figure 8 is a side viewof another form of the discharge spout, which maybe used in the nozzle assembly of either Fig. l or Fig. 5;

Figure 9 is a section along the line 9-9 in Fig. 8;

Figure 10 is a front view of the Fig. 8- discharge spout;

Figure 11 is an enlarged bottom view of the Fig. 6 discharge spout; and

Figure 12 is an enlarged bottom view of the Fig. 8 discharge spout.

Inthe following description, the filler nozzle is described in terms ofits use in feeding ice cream in'a plastic 2,736,480 Patented. Feb. 28,,1956.

state to the receptacle to be filled. However, it is to: be understoodthat the invention is equally applicable to use with other materials,and particularly edible materials, having flow characteristics similaroranalogous to ice cream.

Referring to Figs. 13,' the overall assembly with which the presentinvention is intended to,- be used includes a rigidly supported hopper1, which has spaced internal partitions 2 and 3 dividing the hopperinto. three separate compartments 4, 5 and 6. for ice cream which may bedifferently flavored. A first gear pump assembly 7 is disposedimmediately below the hopper compartment 4 and communicates therewithfor discharging ice cream therefrom. A second gear pumpv assembly 8 anda third gear pump assembly 9 are also, similarly arranged todischargeice cream from the hopper compartments 5 and- 6, respectively.

An upper plate 10 of the filler nozzle assembly is re-- leasably bolted,by means of threaded bolts 1-1, to the underside of the pump housing12., As best seen in Fig. 3, plate 10 is formed with four centrallylocated down wardly extending holes 13., 14, 15 and 16 positioned toreceive the ice cream discharged from the central pump assembly 8.Adjacent one end the plate 10- has four similar holes. 17, 18., 19 and20 located to pass the ice cream, from the. corresponding pump set '7,while adjacent its opposite end the plate 10 is formed with anadditional four holes 21, 22, 23. and 24 for receiving the ice creamfrom the other pump set 9.

A depending vertical tubular segment 25 is rigidly secured, as bywelding, to. the attachment plate It at the hole 17 therein so as toreceive the ice cream discharged therethrough. A larger vertical tubularleg 26 (Fig. 4) is similarly secured to plate 10. at the central hole 13therein, and a tubular leg 27 similarly extends down from the hole 21 atthe opposite, end of plate 10. The depending tubular legs 25 and 26 areinterconnected by a horizontal tubular portion 28. of uniform-diametersmooth bore construction which communicates with both legs 25 and 26and. has its outer end beyond the tubular leg 25 closed by a removable.expansion plug 29 of resilient material, such as rubber. Likewise, anidentical horizontal tube 30 extends between the central tubularvertical leg- 26 and the tubular vertical leg 27 at the other end ofattachment plate 10, with the free end of this tube beyond leg 27 beingclosed by an identical removable plug 31-,

An outer vertical tube 32 is connected to both of the horizontal tubes28 and 30- and extends downwardly therefrom in alignment with thecentral tubular leg 26 to, in effect, form a continuation of thisvertical leg. As best seen in Fig. 2:, tube; 32 is circular incross-section for most of its length and at its; lower end 33 tapersinwardly from the front and from therein to, have an oblong dischargeend.

It is to be understood that each, of the other three centrally disposeddischarge spouts in the assembly of Figs. 1 3 has an identicalconstruction to that described above, for feeding ice cream from theopposite ends of the assembly to the outer tube of the central dischargespout.

At the discharge spout, there is also located a separably mounted innertube 34, which has an integral enlarged transverse flange 3.51 at itsupper end (Fig. 4). This flange of the inner tube 34. is snugly seatedin a complementary annular depression 36 formed in the upper face of theattachment plate 10-. When assembled, the upper face of the flange $5 onthe inner tube 34 is flush with the upper face ofthe attachment plate10. Immediately below flange 35, the inner tube is enlarged at 37 to fitsnugly within the depending tubular leg 26. Below this snugly fittingportion 37, the inner tube 34' has its outer diameter reduced so as toprovide communication between the outer tube'32 at'the spout and thehorizontal tubes 28 and 30.

In Figs. l-4, the inner tube 34 at the discharge spout is shown as beingformed with a diametrically opposed pair of straight external ribs 38and 39, which extend outwardly from the inner tube 34- to snugly engagethe interior wall of the outer tube 32. This construction is shown indetail in Figs. 6, 7 and 11. By virtue of this construction, thegenerally annular space between the outer and inner tubes 32 and 34 isdivided into two separate passageways 40 and 41, which communicaterespectively with the horizontal tubes 28 and 30 to pass the ice creamtherefrom in separate flows. At the same time, the ice cream from thecentral compartment 5 in the trough flows down through the inner tube 34in a stream separate from both of the other flavors in the passages 44and 41.

Fig. 11 shows in enlarged detail the generally rectangular outline ofthe lower end 33 of the outer tube 32. The inner tube 34 also terminatesat its lower end in a generally rectangular oblong portion 42 whichextends completely across the middle area of the lower end 33 of theouter tube 32. Since the receptacle to be filled has, of course, across-section similar to that of the lower end 33 of the outer tube 32(usually being shaped to snugly surround the same), the separate flavorswith this arrangement of the discharge spout will extend crosswise ofthe receptacle.

In some instances, customers prefer the flavors to'extend lengthwise ofthe receptacle. To this end, the inner tube 34 of Figs. l-4, 6, 7 and 11may be removed from the outer tube 32 and replaced by the inner tube 43,shown in Figs. 8-10 and 12. This inner tube is releasably mounted in thesame fashion on the attachment plate 10 to extend downward within theouter tube 32 and to provide communication between the horizontal tubes28 and 30 and the outer tube 32. Inner tube 43 is formed with a pair ofdownwardly extending outer ribs 44 and 45, which snugly engage theinterior of outer tube 32 to form two separate passageways between outertube 32 and the inner tube 43. However, instead of being straight, theseribs 44 and 45 spiral gradually around the inner tube 43 through 90degrees, so as to displace the end flavors 90 degrees as they flowdownward through the discharge spout. At its lower end, the inner tube43, which is circular in cross-section for most of its extent, flaresoutwardly at 46 to form an oblong discharge end which engages theinterior of the oblong discharge end 33 of the outer tube 32 and extendscompletely thereacross lengthwise. Thus, with this construction of theinner nozzle in the discharge spout, the separate flavors are dischargedto extend lengthwise of the receptacle.

Since the filler nozzle is intended primarily for feeding comestibleproducts, such as ice cream, it is quite important that it be kept in asanitary condition. The described construction of the present inventionfacilitates the ready disassembly of the nozzle for cleaning in thefollowing manner:

The attachment plate 10 is unbolted from the pump housing 12 and each ofthe inner tubes at the four discharge spouts is lifted out of thecorresponding outer tube. The outer tube 32 and the aligned tubular leg26 at the discharge spout may be cleaned by a brush inserted from theupper end of the tubular leg 26. The end tubular legs 25 and 27 may becleaned by brushes inserted from their upper ends, through theattachment plate 10. By removing the closure plugs 29 and 31, theuniform bore horizontal tubes 28 and 30 may be cleaned by brushesinserted from their now-open free ends. The interior passage in theinner tube 34 may be cleaned by a brush inserted from its upper end, andthe externalribs 38 and 39 on the inner tube 32 are readily accessiblefor cleaning.

In the nozzle assemblyshown in Fig. 5, there are provided threeattachment plates 50, 51 and 52, releasably secured respectively to thepump housing 12a beneath the gear pump sets 7a, 8a and 9a, each of whichdischarges ice cream from a separate source. A vertical tubular leg 25aextends downward from the attachment plate 50 and communicates with auniform smooth bore horizontal tube 28a, which has its outer end closedby a removable expansion plug 29a of resilient material. At the oppositeend of the pump housing 12a, a vertical tubular leg 27a extends downwardfrom the attachment plate 52 and is joined to a uniform smooth borehorizontal tube 300, which has its outer end closed by expansion plug31a.

Horizontal tubes 28b and 30b having uniform smooth bores extend outwardfrom the central vertical tubular leg 26a and the outer tube 32a of thedischarge spout, tubular leg 26a being rigidly secured to attachmentplate 51 to extend downward therefrom. At its outer end 53 tube 28b isenlarged and counterbored to snugly telescopically receive an enlargedhead 54 on the inner end of tube 28a. The head 54 is formed with anannular peripheral groove in which a resilient O-ring 55 is seated toprevent leakage around this connection between the horizontal tubes 28aand 28b and to provide a separable frictional attachment at this point.Similarly, tube 30b has its outer end 56 enlarged and counterbored tosnugly receive the enlarged head 57 on the inner end of tube 30a, anO-ring 58 being carried by the head 57, for the same purpose.

The inner tube 34a at the discharge spout is suitably formed withexternal ribs 38a and 39a shaped and dimentioned to engage the interiorof the outer tube 32a to separate the ice cream flowing from thepassageway formed by vertical tubular leg 25a and horizontal tubes 28aand 28b from the ice cream flowing from the passageway formed byvertical tubular leg 27a and horizontal tubes 30a and 3012. Inner tube34a is separably mounted at the discharge spout in the same manner asthe mounting for tube 34 in the form of the invention shown in Figs.1-4, with the top face of the flange at its upper end (not shown) lyingflush with the top face of attachment plate 51.

It is to be understood that the inner tube 34a may have either straightor spiraled ribs, as desired, depending upon the way it is desired tohave the flavors extend in the receptacle. Further, any desired numberof discharge spouts may be provided with this assembly, with the centralattachment plate 51 serving to mount all of the discharge spouts, andthe end attachment plates 50 and 52 mounting all of the vertical tubularlegs at the respective opposite ends of the pump housing.

For cleaning this assembly the separate attachment plates 50, 51 and 52are unbolted from the pump housing, the horizontal tubes 28a and 28b aredetached from one another, and the horizontal tubes 30a and 30b aredetached from one another. After the inner tube 34a at the dischargespout is removed from the outer tube 32a, the latter may be cleaned by abrush inserted from its upper end at the vertical tubular leg 26 and theattachment plate 51. The horizontal tubes 28b and 3012 may be cleanedrespectively by a brush inserted from the outer end of either. Theinterior and exterior surfaces of the inner tube 34a at the dischargespout may be cleaned as in the embodiment of the invention shown inFigs. 1-4. The vertical tubular legs 25a and 27a may be cleaned bybrushes inserted from their respective upper ends. After removing theplugs 29a and 31a, the horizontal tubes 28a and 30a may be cleaned by abrush inserted from either end.

While in the foregoing description there are disclosed specificpreferred forms of the present invention, it is to be understood thatvarious modifications, omissions and refinements departing from thedescribed forms of the invention may be adopted without departing fromthe spirit and scope of my invention. Obviously, the number of dischargespouts in the assembly may be varied to ,suit the requirements of theuser. Also, while the invention has been shown in conjunction with threeseparate ice cream sources, it is to be understood that these sourcesmay be all of' one flavor, or two of the same, or three difierent.flavors, as desired, since the invention is really adapted for all suchapplications.

I claim:

1. A multiple flavor filler nozzle for filling a receptacle with aplurality of layers of ice cream and the like comprising a downwardlyextending outer nozzle tube having a discharge outlet at its lower end,an inner nozzle tube disposed within the outer nozzle tube in annularlyspaced relation thereto and approximately coextensive therewith havingan inlet at its upper end to communicate with a first source of materialand a discharge outlet at its lower end, a plurality of supply passagesextending laterally from said outer tube and communicating therewith atspaced locations therearound, said supply passages having inlets inspaced relation to said outer tube for communication with separatesources of material, and ribs extending across the annular space betweensaid nozzle tubes to separate the respective flows from said supplypassages through said annular space, said ribs extending downwardlyalong the nozzle tubes to divide said annular space into separatepassages for segregated flows therethrough of material from said supplypassages.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein the upper end of the inner nozzletube is snugly received within the upper end of the outer nozzle tubewith a sliding fit to separably position the inner tube and close theupper end of the outer tube.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said supply passages are formed bystraight tubes which interseat and communicate with the outer nozzletube intermediate its ends at diametrically opposite points thereon andeach of the supply tubes has an olfset tubular inlet disposed inparallelism with the nozzle tubes.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein the supply tubes extend beyond thetubular inlets and releasable closures are disposed at the ends of thesupply tubes to close the same whereby removal of the closures providesa straight passage through the supply tubes and outer nozzle tube forthe passage of a cleaning brush.

5. The combination of claim 3 wherein each of the supply tubes comprisestwo sections interconnected in end to end relationship at a pointbetween the nozzle tube and the supply tube inlet.

6. The combination of claim 3 wherein each of the supply tubes comprisesa section integral with the outer nozzle tube and an extension sectionhaving an offset tubular inlet, one of the sections having a female endand the other of the sections having a male end receivable therein and aseal between the interfitting ends of the sections to prevent leakagewhen the ends are slid into assembled end to end relation.

7. A filler nozzle as defined in claim 1, wherein said outer nozzle tubeat its lower end is flattened at opposite sides to provide a dischargeoutlet of approximately rectangular cross-section, and the inner tube isflattened at opposite sides at its lower end to provide a dischargeoutlet of approximately rectangular cross-section extending completelyacross a middle portion of the discharge outlet of the outer tube toprovide separate discharge openings for the annular passages.

8. The combination of claim 1 wherein said outer nozzle tube at itslower end is inturned along two opposed sides and flattened to providean end of approximately rectangular cross-section of unequal dimensionsand the inner tube is inturned near its lower end on two opposed sidesand flattened to provide a rectangular discharge outlet having itslongest dimension extending crosswise of the end of the outer tube at amiddle portion thereof disposed at the ends of the aforesaid ribs tothereby provide at the end of the nozzle separate rectangular dischargeoutlets for the inner tube and the annular passages.

9. The combination of claim 8 wherein the longest dimensions of therectangular ends of the inner and 6 outer tubes are positioned inparallelism and the ribs are i rr the form of spirals: which turnthrough degrees through the lengthof the annular space.

10. The combination: of claim 2 wherein the ribs are aflixed? to theouter surface of the inner nozzle tube and the inner surface of theouter nozzle tube is plain and smooth for efficient cleaning.

11. The combination of claim 3 wherein the supply tubes are of rigidmetal and extend beyond the tubular inlets and resilient expansion plusare disposed in the ends of the supply tubes to close the same wherebyremoval of the expansion plus provides a straight open ended passagethrough the supply tubes and the outer nozzle tube for the passage of acleaning implement.

12. A multiple flavor nozzle for attachment to a filling machine tosimultaneously fill a plurality of receptacles each with a plurality oflayers of ice cream and the like comprising supporting means arranged tobe secured in operative relation to a multiple source filling machine, aplurality of outer nozzle tubes having one end carried in saidsupporting means and depending therefrom in parallel coplanar spacedrelationship each having. a discharge outlet at its lower end, an innernozzle tube disposed within each of the outer nozzle tubes in annularlyspaced relation thereto and approximately coextensive therewith havingan inlet at its upper end communicating with a source common to saidinlets and a discharge outlet at its lower end, a bank of supplypassages on each side of the plane of the nozzle tubes each bank havinga passage communicating at one end with one of the outer nozzle tubesand extending laterally therefrom in coaxial relationship with a passageof the other bank, the passages of each bank having inlets through saidsupporting means communicating with second and third sources each ofwhich is common to the inlets of one bank, a plurality of ribs extendingacross the annular space between the inner and outer nozzle tubes, saidribs extending downwardly along the nozzle tubes to divide said annularspace into separate passages for segregated flows of the material fromsaid supply passages to the discharge outlet.

13. A multiple flavor nozzle for attachment to a filling machine tosimultaneously fill a plurality of receptacles each with a plurality oflayers of ice cream and the like comprising supporting means arranged tobe secured in operative relation to a multiple source filling machine, aplurality of outer nozzle tubes having one end carried in saidsupporting means and depending therefrom in parallel coplanar spacedrelationship each having a discharge outlet at its lower end, an innernozzle tube disposed within each of the outer nozzle tubes in annularlyspaced relation thereto and approximately coextensive therewith havingan inlet at its upper end communicating with a source common to saidinlets and a discharge outlet at its lower end, a bank of supply tubeson each side of the plane of the nozzle tubes each bank having a tubecommunicating at one end with one of the outer nozzle tubes andextending laterally therefrom in coaxial relationship with a tube of theother bank, an inlet tube connected to each supply tube and saidsupporting means communicating with second and third sources each ofwhich is common to the inlet tubes of one bank, a plurality of ribsextending across the annular space between the inner and outer nozzletubes to separate the respective flows from said supply passages throughsaid annular space, said ribs extending downwardly along the nozzletubes to divide said annular space into separate passages for segregatedflows of the material from said supply passages.

14. The combination of claim 13 wherein said supporting means comprisesan attachment plate, said outer nozzle tubes and said inlet tubes arepermanently afl'ixed thereto and the plate has annular recesses aboutthe ends of the outer nozzle tubes for the reception of each innernozzle tube to removably support the inner tube within the outer tube.

15. The combination of claim 13 wherein said support- 7 ing meanscomprises an attachment plate to which said References Cited in the fileof this patent outer nglzzle Lubest are permanentllyafixedaariangeadrato UNITED STATES PATENTS remova y su por e inner nozzeu es, 11 sep e attachment plates for each 'bank of inlet tubes and g gggg i g i wherein said supply tubes each comprise two tubular 5 2 3-2pieces arranged in end to end position and a slip joint ag y 2 disposedbetween said pieces for separation of the parts in cleaning.

